Lando Norris eases to Singapore Grand Prix victory to reduce Max Verstappen’s lead in drivers’ championship
McLaren's Lando Norris leads into the first corner at the start of the race.
By Jamie Barton, CNN
(CNN) — British driver Lando Norris recorded a comfortable victory at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, putting a dent into Max Verstappen’s lead atop the drivers’ world championship.
It was another excellent race for McLaren, following a victory for Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri in Azerbaijan last week. Piastri himself finished third in Singapore.
It was Norris’ third win of the season, cutting reigning champion Verstappen’s lead at the top of the drivers’ championship to 52 points after the Dutch driver finished second.
It was also a positive outing in terms of the constructors’ championship for McLaren too, with the victory and Piastri’s podium finish stretching McLaren’s lead over Red Bull at the top of the constructors’ world championship.
The two drivers’ top three finishes contributed a total of 40 for McLaren on the night, giving McLaren a lead of 41 over Red Bull, and will add to the British team’s hopes of winning their first championship since 1998.
Red Bull are the current champions, having won the title in each of the last two seasons.
“[It was] an amazing race,” Norris told Sky Sports after the race. “A few too many close calls. It was well controlled otherwise. Fun.
“Sometimes it is not that you are pushing too much but that you are chilling too much. Good day for the team.”
The British driver began the race in pole position having finished 0.203 seconds ahead of Verstappen in qualifying, and got off to an excellent start. Verstappen, opting to cover Lewis Hamilton in third rather than challenge Norris, remained in second and never challenged the 24-year-old McLaren driver, finding himself 13.5 seconds behind Norris by the 19th lap.
Norris enjoyed an excellent race way out in front, repeatedly setting fastest lap times, lapping all but six of the other drivers and finishing more than 20 seconds ahead of Verstappen in second.
Despite starting in third, Hamilton struggled. Having began the race on soft tires, the 39-year-old was forced to pit on just the 18th lap, a decision the seven-time title winner was clearly unhappy with and which hamstrung him for the rest of the contest. The British driver finished in sixth.
Meanwhile Daniel Ricciardo, in what might be his final race for RB, pitted for a third time right at the end to snatch the fastest lap point.
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